Open ended container



Feb. 13, 1934. F D JQNAS 1,946,795

OPEN ENDED CONTAINER Filed Feb. 25, 1932 ATTOQNEY.

Patented Feb. 13, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE OPEN ENDED` CONTAINER Application February 23, 1932. Serial No. 594,541

4 Claims.

One of the objects of this invention is to pro- Vide a strong, rigid, durable, outer container or casing within which a sliding drawer may be employed to receive storage materials.

The main object of this invention is to provide a casing of this type which is exceedingly strong and rugged, which is capable of bearing considerable loads on the exterior thereof, which is exceedingly true and square, and which is adapted to relatively cheap and rapid manufacture and particularly adapted to rapid set up from machine made forms or blanks.

Another object of this invention is to provide a casing construction which may be employed with thick corrugated cardboard, such as the double iluted corrugated type, which has a thickness of the order of one-half inch, with flap fastening means to aid in `ease of erection and insure squareness and accuracy of set-up.

Another object of this invention is to provide a blank made of thick'cardboard which when set-up will provide double side walls of the proper heighth so that all portions of the side walls will bear their share of the load.

These and many other objects, as will appear from the following disclosure, are secured by means of this invention.

This invention resides substantially in the combination, construction, arrangement, and relative location of parts as will be described in detail in the following specification and pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawing- Figure 1 is a plan view of the blank of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the casing partly folded;

Fig. 3 is an end view of the completed casing; and

Fig. 4 is a side view of the completed casing.

Non-current records are generally stored in inexpensive solid or corrugated bre storage files. type, while encountering all the abuses of hard usage incident to the service, must also be very rigid and strong to permit of stacking in piles' of considerable height.

Being incapable of front cross bracing, the back and sides particularly must be extremely rigid and stout. These strength requirements must be met, however, within lowcost limitations, demanding a structure which incorporates all possible features tending toward rigidity and strength, and yet the blank of which may be formed on standard machines with little waste.

The open ended file of the sliding drawery These containersare shipped flat or knocked down as a thick strong blank of very sizable dimensions. Experience has shown these cases are often not set up square and correctly due to the tendency of the board to spring back to its 30 flat position. I have overcome this by incorporating locating means which aid in erection and are positioned to register the sides and back in square and insure true set up of maximum rigidity. l

Referring to the drawing, the blank is shown comprising a single piece of thick cardboard having the portions 1,` 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10 and 14all integrally united. The portions 2 and 3, when folded along the lines indicated at 11, form the sides of the container; and the portion l forms the bottom. The portion 14 is folded along the line 17 to form the back of the container. The blank is so constructed that the back may be folded along the line 17 at a point to allow for 75 the thickness of the material. Thus the fold line 1'7 is offset from the adjacent edges of the sides 2 and 3 in an amount substantially equal to thethickness of the stock. This permits of the formation of a square container. Each of the 3() side portions 4 and 6 is of a width equal to the sides 2 and 3, plus an amount substantially equal to twice the thickness of the stock. The purpose of this will appear shortly. 'Ihe flaps 9 and 10 are each equal to the width of the sides 85 2 and 3 plus an amount substantially equal to the thickness of the stock.

The side pieces 4 and 6 are folded at right angles to the top piece 5, as indicated in Fig. 2; along lines of fold 16 which are offset from the 90 lines of fold 11 by an amount substantially equal to the thickness of the stock. This again permits of a true, right angle corner with the side portions 4 and 6 in a position so that they will lie against and parallel to the side portions 2 95 and 3, as clearly indicated in Fig. 3.

The aps 9 and 10 are folded along the lines 7 and 8 which are offset from the line of fold 15 a distance substantially equal to the thickness of the stock to again give square edges. These flaps 9 and 10 are preferably of a Sudicient length so as not to interfere with each other, as indicated in Fig. 2, when they lie parallel to the back portion 14. The back portion 14 is provided with locating means, as for example 105 such fasteners as indicated at 18, while their cooperating portions 19 are attached to flaps 9 and 10. These fasteners are positioned near the outer edges of portion 14 and adjacent to crease 17 (see Fig. 1) so that when the parts are folded 110 completely formed, will rest on the same plane as the bottom 1, so that all of the side portions 2, 3, 4 and 6 will equally share any load placed on the container. It will be noted that the back of the container is also of double thickness and the height of the flaps 9 and 10 is such that they will likewise bear their share of the load placed at the back of the container. These features of constructions are particularlyV important in connection with thick board and when used in a container which is open at the front, as is the containerof this invention. Since the front of the container has no wall the construction disclosed is of particular importance because of the obvious advantage of properly bracing an open ended container.

When the parts are folded into the position shown in Fig. 3 they are secured in place by means of suitable fastening means, such as indicated at 25 and shown for purposes of illustration in the form of a gummed tape. If desired, the raw edges of the stock which denne the open end of the container may be nished off by securing pieces of tape 20 over them, as indicated in Fig. 1.

The container of this invention may be employed to directly receive materials for storage, but is preferably used in connection with a suitable drawer which may likewise be made of cardboard, and which must freely slide thereon.

These features of construction are of particular importance when it is remembered that in practice ling containers of this type are usually stacked one on the other and when they are all loaded the lower `containers are subjected to sizable compression loads.

Another important feature of the invention is that the maximum of strength is secured from a single blank, which blank may at the same time be formed on standard machines, which is a matter of considerable economy. The lines of fold indicated by dotted lines in the drawing may be provided on the blank either by creasing, by scoring, or slightly weakening the material along the proper line of fold, and the like.

From the above disclosure it will be apparent that this invention resides in certain features of construction which may be carried out in other ways and I do not, therefore, desire to be strictly limited to the disclosure as given for purposes of illustration but rather to the scope of the appended claims.

What l.' seek to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

1. A container blank as described comprising a single piece of foldable stock having a definite width at one end, an intermediate portion slotted to delne folds, which portion has an overall width equal to the width of the first mentioned portion plus twice the thickness of the stock, and a third portion having a width equal to the Width of said rst portion plus four times the thickness of the stock, the blank when folded forming a container having double thickness side walls which evenly distribute vertical compression loads.

2. A blank of material foldable to form an open ended container of great strength and load bearing ability comprising a sheet of material of sub` stantially rectangular proportions having successive sections of less width by twice the thickness of the material from one end to the other, each section being of uniform Width throughout its length, the middle section being severed from the sheet at each side along a pair of perpendicular lines to form flaps.

3. A blank of material foldable to form an open ended container of great strength and load bearing ability comprising a sheet of material of substantially rectangular proportions having successive sections of less width from one end to the other, each section being of uniform width throughout its length, the middle section being severed from the sheet at each side along a pair of perpendicular lines to form flaps, and snap fasteners on said naps and the middle section for securing the aps in folded position.

4. A collapsible casing, open at one end, formed from a single sheet of material of substantially rectangular shape by folding, the folding of the sheet defining three sections of uniform width, the middle section being narrower than the first section by twice the thickness of the sheet and the third section being narrower than the rst section by four times the thickness of the sheet, and L-shaped slots in the middle section forming back flaps, the sheet when folded forming a casing having sides of double thickness and vertical height equal to that of the casing so that compression loads on the casing are carried uniformly by the sides.

FRANK D. JONAS. 

